Midnight fire burns 55 stores inside Incheon market

A massive fire rages at a market in Songlim-dong of Dong District, Incheon, in the early hours of Sunday. [YONHAP]

A massive fire that burned down more than 50 stores in an Incheon market was extinguished early Sunday morning, local authorities said.

The fire broke out at the Hyeondae Market in Songlim-dong, a neighborhood of Incheon’s Dong District, at 11:38 p.m. the previous day, according to the Incheon Fire Department.

The agency has not yet reported any casualties from the fire, but estimated that 55 out of a total of 205 stores in the market were destroyed or scorched by the flames.

Local firefighting officials issued a level 2 emergency fire alert just past midnight, mobilizing emergency personnel and firefighting equipment from six nearby fire stations.

Korea operates a three-level emergency fire alert system, with level 3 being the highest.

A total of 245 firefighters and 66 water pump cars were dispatched to the market to extinguish the fire.

The agency said that the fire was under control by 1:31 a.m. before reporting that it was completely extinguished at 2:23 a.m., approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes after it began.

Local officials said that firefighting personnel were dispatched quickly to the blaze because the automated fire alarm system kicked in immediately after the fire broke out in the market.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo issued an emergency directive ordering all available equipment and personnel to do their best to extinguish the fire.

Police and fire authorities plan to investigate the cause of the fire and examine various possibilities as to how it started at a time when the market is usually closed.

A police official who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity said, “It is currently difficult to check closed-circuit television footage recorded in the vicinity of the market due to the fire,” adding, “We are conducting a joint investigation with the fire authorities to confirm the cause of the incident.”

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]